


Seven Lifetimes (A Chanbaek Fanfiction)

by titabaekhyun0506



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst, Ghosts, M/M, Reincarnation, Romance, Spirits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 17:08:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18450941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/titabaekhyun0506/pseuds/titabaekhyun0506
Summary: All humans are to live seven different lives.Byun Baekhyun committed a mortal sin against Park Chanyeol during their first lifetime. As a punishment, Baekhyun became a spirit meant to stick with Chanyeol in his six remaining lives. On the seventh life, Baekhyun begged the Heavens."It's already the seventh life. Can Chanyeol love me now?""Who are you?"It was a one-sided love for Baekhyun. And he remembers how that was why he committed that sin against his love. And now, on Chanyeol's seventh life, he can finally see Baekhyun."Y-you.. you can see me?"





	1. Preface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was their first lifetime when Baekhyun met Park Chanyeol.

\---

It was their first lifetime when Byun Baekhyun met Park Chanyeol.

He was Baekhyun's first love. Chanyeol was a twenty-seven-year old musician who produced music for SMEnt, an entertainment company. Baekhyun was the company's head makeup artist, and sometimes, after the both of them developed a special friendship, the latter would help Chanyeol with his songs as his co-lyricist.

Chanyeol was an ideal guy. In fact, Baekhyun believed that if he were to debut as an idol under SM Entertainment, Chanyeol would even surpass the highest-paid idol with his voice and outgoing personality.

Especially with his looks.

Of course, it was part of being human. Having an interest to someone because of their looks, or how someone appeared to a person the first (or second) time they met. Baekhyun didn't deny how Chanyeol's strong features---his sharp jaw, big eyes, plump limps and even his unusually pointy ears---captured his eyes the moment they met one day in the latter's studio on SMEnt. Baekhyun already worked for 3 years on the company when Chanyeol was scouted by the CEO himself, stealing the him from a competitor in the US. Apparently, Chanyeol was at the point where he didn't want to settle anywhere but Korea. He was immediately appointed as SM's newest music producer after signing a contract. And then Baekhyun met him there, sitting on a chair and familiarizing himself with his new studio the company had given him, smiling as if he was a child living in his own world. Baekhyun suddenly fell in love.

But didn't end there. There was always more than a person's looks. There was more than Park Chanyeol's looks. Baekhyun knew that. He did not stop there; stuck on that day where he fell in love with just Chanyeol's appearance. Baekhyun continued to sail on and looked beyond what Chanyeol's face could offer. He overlooked it, especially when he realized how he wanted to have the man as his as he saw Chanyeol's every side. Chanyeol was approachable and kind as what everybody knew. But he was also the Chanyeol who was sometimes grumpy and impatient. He was also the Chanyeol who slept with half-open eyes and drooled in his sleep. He was the Chanyeol who was also childish at times and only Baekhyun was able to handle him because he was the only one who witnessed all that. Baekhyun was the only one who looked at Chanyeol beyond his face and his tall figure. He was the only one who knew him like that.

Almost everyone in the company, even the fandoms of SM's artists, wanted Chanyeol. He was famous even for a music producer, and everybody wanted a piece of him. Everybody adored him as if he was more than the bunch of idols the company offered. He was talented, social and he even possessed good personality. And he was very, very, beautiful.

He wasn't handsome, like how everybody saw him. But beautiful. He was beautiful in so many ways in Baekhyun's eyes. He was beautiful when he smiled. He was beautiful when he laughed. He was beautiful when he got frustrated. Or when he hummed to music. He was even beautiful when he couldn't think of any good lyrics to put on his songs anymore.

And especially, he was beautiful when he let Baekhyun see all his weaknesses.

The first person who opened my heart is you, Baekhyun-hyung.

It was as if Chanyeol uttered those words yesterday. Or a minute ago. Or a few seconds before Baekhyun repeated that line in his head. Baekhyun could still remember how Chanyeol told him that. He could still remember how Chanyeol held him by the shoulders that night, those words slipping through his full red lips. Baekhyun could still remember how Chanyeol's orbs shined while Baekhyun looked back at him in the crystal of his very own eyes.

Baekhyun could still remember.

Baekhyun could only place a gentle hand on the back of his head when he woke up. His vision was a bit blurry and he could feel his body as if it was being carried by the silent wind of the chilly morning despite him lying on the floor.

Once his vision got better, he got a better look at where he was.

Baekhyun wasn't sure, but the place looked like a small apartment with a minimal amount of furnitures. It was designed in a Korean traditional way, starting with how most of the furnitures were made to be used while sitting on the floor, to how there were sliding wooden doors separating the only three rooms inside. Baekhyun didn't know but as he scanned the place he was in, his chest felt heavier.

He suddenly woke up somewhere, inside someone's house, not knowing anything about how he got there. Or even what happened yesterday.

Baekhyun noticed the slightly opened door nearby and got a hold of what looked like a bedroom inside. Trying to carry his own weight, he stood up from his position and carefully walked towards it as he also figured out how to balance himself. He couldn't move properly. His body felt so much foreign. Baekhyun was feeling so much lighter... and different.

Step by step, Baekhyun learned how to walk with ease. His body felt so strange. Even his walk was different. It wasn't like that before---it was so much different than how he tried to walk all his life. But Baekhyun needed answers. He set aside the discomfort his body was telling him and slid open the door. Baekhyun inhaled. It seemed like forever before the sun's rays reached the empty bedroom. Slowly in Baekhyun's eyes, he saw how the room lit as light crawled in the small space he was in. With a beating heart, Baekhyun swept his eyes around.

Nothing was familiar.

Several pictures were displayed almost everywhere inside the room. It was all with unfamiliar faces, smiling under different occassions as they looked at the camera. For some reason, Baekhyun felt  like those eyes stared right through his soul. Everything remained unfamiliar. Baekhyun let out his breath. 

There was a picture sitting on the bedside table that took his attention. Immediately learning how to carry on with his lighter body, Baekhyun half-ran beside the bed where the picture was located.

It was a photo of a boy---a chubby one, wearing a yellow shirt with a glasses--holding an innocent hamster. The boy wasn't smiling at all, a small frown was present on his face. Despite the frown, the picture showed no signs that the boy was unhappy. It seemed like he was only focused on holding the hamster tight enough by his hands so that it won't escape his grasp. He was looking at the camera and Baekhyun thought that maybe, the kid wasn't really sad at all.

Just like how a very precious, innocent boy should be.

Baekhyun didn't know where the pang from his heart came from. It was so sudden; his hand immediately took hold of his chest when the pain suddenly took place. It was so sudden and so fast that Baekhyun wasn't even able to tend to his pain when it ended as sudden as it occurred.

Baekhyun wasn't sure about the pain, but he was sure that he felt it as soon as he realized that something was so achingly familiar with the boy in the picture. Baekhyun's eyes widened.

It was Chanyeol. The boy in the picture was Baekhyun's first and only love, Park Chanyeol.

And everything in Baekhyun's mind fell into place when he realized that.

Why was Baekhyun there? Where is he? Who is he? Why is this happening? Where was he last night? What happened last night? What happened and what did he do on the last few days? On the last few weeks? Last few years?

Everything suddenly didn't make sense.

Baekhyun began panicking, cursing himself for only realizing things now. He wasn't even aware if he was really awake or not. He cannot remember anything. He was even unsure what he was doing waking up on somebody else's living room floor, unconscious.

Baekhyun was holding onto his hair locks, frustrated, when he heard the door slide.

Baekhyun's body tensed when the door slid open, revealing a tall guy. That was when he saw Park Chanyeol, with a much younger face and much thinner body, wearing glasses and a backpack. He was dressed in his school uniform. Baekhyun's eyes landed on the nametag on Chanyeol's chest.

Lee Yeol, it read.

It was the second lifetime when Baekhyun met Lee Yeol.

*


	2. Lifetime 1

\---

"It's already 7AM. Won't you wake up, Chanyeol-ah?"

Baekhyun grinned. He was laying sideways on the soft matress of Chanyeol's bed. The room was cozy, everything was placed in order except for the floor messy with mixed used clothes and papers. The sun's rays weakly lit the whole room, lighting some areas and making some spaces remain dim. Chanyeol lay asleep on the bed beside him, totally oblivious to Baekhyun talking to him.

As if he would hear Baekhyun.

"Chanyeol-ah, wake up. You're gonna be late."

Worry was obvious in Baekhyun's voice. He couldn't help it. The person in front of him looked very much like Chanyeol. He looked very much like his Chanyeol. Of course, the person beside Baekhyun may not be the same Chanyeol during their first lifetime, but it was still Chanyeol. He was just a bit different in terms of formal identity. He worked a different job, wore a different style of clothes, acted and said things in a different manner. But to Baekhyun, he was still Chanyeol. He was still the same soul who Baekhyun loved and is still loving.

He may be a bit different, but his core was the same.

Baekhyun knew he couldn't touch him---he was a spirit, afterall---but he couldn't help but to reach towards Chanyeol's fringe, his forehead creasing as his closed eyes took awareness of the morning rays lightened straight at his face from the windows.

Baekhyun held a breath. Even when a long, long time has passed, he still loves the male.

"Chanyeol-ah, wake up..." Baekhyun's eyes started to glisten as fuzzy memories started clouding his mind. It was painful. The words sounded familiar. He knew asking Chanyeol to wake up like this was a very small thing, a very normal one. But the words hurt Baekhyun for some unknown reason. It was like he was calling out to Chanyeol, the Chanyeol during his first lifetime, who wouldn't wake up. Baekhyun was calling out to him but to no avail. The male wouldn't budge.

Baekhyun didn't know where the memory came from---or if it was even real, for that matter. He just slipped off the thought as his fingers still tried touching the locks of Chanyeol's hair.

Chanyeol's eyes opened suddenly. Baekhyun was startled, not expecting it. Said male jolted from his sleep, maybe realizing how doomed he was for being late in work again. It was already 7AM, and his work start at 7:30. Baekhyun sat right up, staring at Chanyeol who was catching his breath as he panicked on what to do first.

"Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck."

Baekhyun chuckled. Suddenly his moisting eyes seemed nonsense. The pain in his heart subsided, like a heavy load lifted off his chest. "You may be reborn, but you never change, do you?" he said. Crawling, he moved up to the upper part of the bed where he could rest his back on the headboard. "You, Park Chanyeol, doesn't change. You still wake up late, and you fuck everything up," he giggled, "But of course, even if you change, you're still the best for me."

Baekhyun saw Chanyeol stumbling on the pile of used clothes on the floor. He laughed, seeing how messy everything was and how dumb the tall male looked. Baekhyun was clapping his hands and clutching onto his stomach from too much laughter, witnessing how Chanyeol kiss the floor as he almost trip to a laptop charger sprawled on it.

"You dumb creature. Next time, wake up to the alarm, okay? You just turned the alarm off and slept again, you silly."

Baekhyun grinned. Seeing the man he loves like this, it was so peaceful. Everything felt normal. A normal day, waking up late like a normal person, normally tripping over a laptop charger, and even preparing for a normal work to survive a normal life. Everything was so, so normal.

Except for Baekhyun being a spirit (or a ghost, whatever) lingering around Chanyeol for seven lifetimes now.

Or six. Yeah, it was six. Baekhyun wasn't a ghost during the first lifetime. He was a person. He was a living person with a physical human body who would eat and die. And most of all, Chanyeol could see him by then.

Baekhyun fought a tear. It was hilarious how he could shift emotions like this. He was laughing to his heart's content seconds ago and he suddenly feeling so down right now. But what he thought was true. He was a person during the first lifetime. He had a body. He had a family, he had friends, he had his career, he had a home, he had an indentity.

He had Chanyeol.

But now, all he could ever do was to follow Chanyeol around, who was actually living his seventh life now, and talk to him like an idiot even though he knew the latter won't hear him. Ever.

What else he could do? He wasn't alive. He was existing, but he couldn't be seen.

And he was lonely.

How long has it been? Five? Six? Seven hundred years? Baekhyun lost track of time. He couldn't figure out what year it was already. Things seemed so different right now compared to the years when he was still alive. Everytime he felt lost. Everytime he felt so scared. But what can he do? He just woke up one day in this world being a spirit, knowing all about his punishment without even having a grasp why or how he knew.

"Mooom, why didn't you wake me up?!"

Baekhyun followed as Chanyeol went out the bathroom changed into his office uniform. He was wearing a blue top and a grey tie along with black pants. He went on to carry on his shoulder his backpack, while a phone was grasped by his hand. His hair was still wet, and it was obvious he hadn't combed it yet. Chanyeol went down the stairs, walking large strides with his long legs towards the dining where his mother was watching the morning news over a cup of tea.

Chanyeol was frowning as he talked to his mother. "Mom, you knew I have work today, why didn't you wake me up?"

The woman, in her late-40s, was grinning when he answered Chanyeol, "Jung Seju, you are already twenty-nine! Why can't you do things on your own?"

Chanyeol pouted like a kid, walking towards his mother and hugging her from behind. His voice sounded softer despite it being low and deep. "Mom. You knew I had trouble sleeping last night. Spare me, please?"

"Insomnia again?"

"Hmm. I had a harder time sleeping this time."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know. Feels like someone is watching me or something?"

Baekhyun's breath hitched. Does Chanyeol know...?

"Or you're just being paranoid? Since you couldn't sleep? You know you don't have to worry about anything, Seju-yah."

Chanyeol thought for a second, thinking. He then looked at his mother and nodded. He released from the hug, facing her. "I think the latter assumption is better."

The lady chuckled. She rose from her seat, picking up the lunch box she readied this morning on the table. "Here," she pushed it towards Chanyeol. The  male smiled upon the thoughtfulness of his mother.

"I'll get going, mom. Thanks."

His mother nodded. "Take care."

Chanyeol's strides went towards the door, a sign that he was going to go out now. Baekhyun followed suit, but the door quickly closed right after Chanyeol went out. Baekhyun grinned.

Baekhyun went through the thick wooden door, his body passing through smoothly with ease by a happy jump. He saw Chanyeol going inside his car and started the engine. The car roared to life. Baekhyun panicked.

"Wait for me, Chanyeol!"

That's when Baekhyun jumped towards the door. He stumbled upon the action, sitting messily at the shotgun seat. Chanyeol remained oblivious to everything. Baekhyun laughed at his recent panicking. He had almost forgot again how he could pass through everything. As in everything. He could literally bang into anything and not earn a single scratch. He was a ghost, afterall.

Baekhyun settled on his seat. He saw Chanyeol putting a lace on his neck, an ID on its tip.

Jung Seju, it said.

Baekhyun hugged his legs on his seat. He rested his chin between his knees, sighing as Chanyeol started driving. "I always forget you're not Chanyeol anymore. I'm... I'm sorry for forgetting again, S-se... Seju-yah."

It has been six lifetimes, yet Baekhyun still wasn't used to it.

Park Chanyeol had been Lee Yeol.

He had been Choi Minsung.

Lee Hujoon.

Kim Jinho.

Song Jisoo.

He had been a lawyer, a pharmacist, an attorney, an officer. Chanyeol had married at thirty-two, at thirty-nine, at twenty-seven, at twenty-eight. He had done so much, been to many places, met different people, accomplished many things.

Baekhyun has saw it all. He witnessed it all, and it was his curse. He would witness Chanyeol live a meaningful life, love and marry and create a family over and over again. He would see how Chanyeol would be sad but happy in the end. Suffering but contented after everything else.

Baekhyun would see with his own eyes how Chanyeol would live six different lives without him. Six different lives being sad without his comfort. Happy without his presence.

Complete without Baekhyun.

Baekhyun stared into the man beside him. The car was running down the streets of an early morning. Birds chirped, cars honked, traffic lights turned green then red. Everything was normal.

Except for Jung Seju having a ghost follow him for six lifetimes now.

Baekhyun set aside the pain. He smiled wide, teeth shiny and his eyes turning into cresents. "I hope everything goes well in your work today, Seju-yah."

It was the seventh lifetime, when Baekhyun met Park Seju.

*


	3. Lifetime 2

\---

"Do you think I can make it?"

The night was cold and dark. It was still beautiful though, how the moon glowed elegantly in the nighttime, lighting up the lonely streets around the Park residence. Baekhyun sat weakly in front of Seju's desk, which was placed parallel to the large window in his room. Baekhyun had his arms hugging his legs, his chin resting atop his knees. It was cold, both literally and metaphorically for Baekhyun. After all these years since his misery started, never in his existence the world felt warm. Everything seemed cold and distant, unfamiliar and strange. The world didn't warm up to him since.

He sighed as he continued shedding silent tears, wondering how calm but sad he was tonight. Maybe it was one of those times where all his fright and panicking don't work, just his loneliness and desparation to finish the punishment was with him.

"I know I'm almost there, but I'm so helpless. The pain feels the same. It's been over seven hundred years but everything feels like it happened yesterday," Baekhyun looked above to where the moon was residing, as if it was staring back at him but silent, completely ignoring his torment.

"His face looks the same, I look the same. He's already in his seventh life but I'm still here, the same Baekhyun from six lifetimes ago, existing but very much dead. I'm almost there, but sometimes... sometimes I can't take it anymore, I want everything to end..." He put his legs down, feet touching the floor, as his hands pulled down his hair in frustration. He was waiting for an answer. Waiting for any answer. But the moon stayed quiet.

No one saw him since that day.

Since he woke up in that living room that day, walking towards the bedroom where he saw pictures of his first love, Park Chanyeol. Where he saw a boy looking very much like Chanyeol in his teens, wearing that school uniform and that name---Lee Yeol, no one saw Baekhyun.

He tried going forward the boy, weak and scared as how his body felt so different in his each step. Baekhyun walked towards him, was about to ask the questions his mind was overflowing with. But when he was almost there---so close, the boy stepped forward, not noticing Baekhyun's presence and passing through him.

Passing through Baekhyun.

And that was when everything started.

His mind was clouded with questions. But when Baekhyun saw a living person pass through him, it was as if something was triggered in his mind. Everything felt so clear that moment---who he was, who Lee Yeol was, who Park Chanyeol was, why he was there and what was happening. It even became so clear what Baekhyun was since that time; a ghost. Not alive, but obviously not dead.

Baekhyun was so scared that time but what could he do? No one could see him. He couldn't talk to anybody, couldn't ask anybody. The only living being he thought of talking to after all that was the moon. But even the moon refused to talk to him.

And he had been like that for six lifetimes.

He knew he was being punished. He knew it was a curse. He knew how he should stick with Chanyeol, all throughout his six remaining lives, and how Baekhyun should suffer because of that. Chanyeol was those six different identities, and now he was Park Seju.

It was nighttime, and Seju decided to go with his colleagues at work to some club. Baekhyun didn't have the heart to follow so decided to go to Seju's house on his own, walking the empty streets without any hint of worry in his heart. No one would dare harm an invisible, lifeless ghost, anyway.

And there Baekhyun was, desolate and bleak inside Seju's room, talking to the moon because he had nobody else to talk to. He hadn't heard a single soul speak to him for so long, and sometimes he would be desperate enough to talk to himself and ask him how he was.

"How are you, Baekhyun?"

"Are you okay, Baek?"

"How was your day?"

"Are you tired?"

Silly questions like that.

Baekhyun didn't know how those simple words mattered for someone to survive. He needed it. He was yearning for those words. But he wasn't alive, and though he wished for those, he would sometimes wonder if he could say those words to Seju instead.

Seju was quiet. He didn't talk much, just like the person that he was as Chanyeol on his first life. He was smart and geeky, a social butterfly. Everyone was his friends but he never had a permanent group of people to be with. He was social, but still mysterious. He was open to his mother, the only relative he had, but sometimes Baekhyun wondered if Seju was really okay. He always smiled, but it was rare that the smile reached his eyes. Baekhyun had been there for so long, he could already tell those little things.

"You won't talk to me, I know," Baekhyun said, giving up. He stood up, eyes stared sharp at the skies. His chest heaved fast angrily. Everything felt so unfair. "I know you won't talk to me, or anyone up there! But if you really are one of the Heavens, can you at least do something for me? I'm not entirely a bad person!"

Baekhyun walked towards the window. His fists curled into a ball from both sides. Everything was always against his will. He knew he was being punished, but he couldn't help but still feel so mad.

With crying eyes, tears flowing down his cheeks continuously, Baekhyun begged the Heavens. He was calmer, but desperation was still evident in his voice. "It's already the seventh life... C-can... can Chanyeol love me now?"

"Who are you?"

Baekhyun's eyes were wide when the familiar voice resonated the four corners of the room. He turned his head towards the door in surprise, seeing Seju standing there in his office uniform, a backpack on his shoulders, and eyes staring directly at him.

"Y-you.. you can see me?" Baekhyun's voice was hoarse with all the crying. His legs were shaking he felt it would fail him any moment.

"I said who are you? Why are you in my room?"

Baekhyun wanted to turn back at the windows, but he couldn't take his gaze away from Seju, who was locking eyes with him. He felt like the moon was staring at his back; right through his soul.

"I... I was---I'm..."

Baekhyun couldn't find the right words. It was the first time after a long time that somebody was talking to him. With a messed up mind, Baekhyun tried walking towards Seju, his legs weak and hesistant but still more than willing.

"C-chan---Se...Seju-yah..."

The smell gave it off. Baekhyun realized Seju was drunk. He was reeking with alcohol, his posture seeming more disoriented now than earlier. Baekhyun panicked. He was aware that the male would pass out any moment now and of course, he wouldn't be able to do anything. He was a ghost incapable of almost everything.

Seju looked back again at Baekhyun in the eyes, a frown formed at his face. He was trying to decipher who the person in front of him was, but his head was fuzzy. Giving in, he closed his eyes. His weight slowly fell down the floor.

Panicky, Baekhyun rushed towards the male, trying his luck to do anything though he knew at the back of his mind he couldn't.

What happened next confused Baekhyun.

They both stumbled down the cold floor. Seju was unconscious. Baekhyun managed to breathe in, feeling a bit different. The male was clutching delicately on Baekhyun's shirt. Baekhyun was breathless when his mind started absorbing everything. Seju could hold him. And when he looked at his arms, examining his body, he could clearly see.

For some reason, Baekhyun had a physical human body, flesh and blood. Right in front of his eyes. Baekhyun was still speechless as he stared back at the light of the moon from the sky.

For the first time in a long time, the moon answered him.

*


	4. Lifetime 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the fuck. I actually didn't know how AO3 works, I'm sorry I have posted the first two chapters before the Preface. What an idiot. /facepalms myself to death/
> 
> Please dont be confused and maybe you could read it again, in the right order. I'm sorry /cries on the corner/
> 
> Also, Chanyeol isn't Park Seju here, but Jung Seju (too much mistakes, I know huhu). Please be reminded. I hope you still enjoy this.

\---

Baekhyun was almost out of breath when his mind had absorbed everything.

"Baekhyun-ah, is Seju still sleeping?"

Seju's mother stood adoringly at the door frame. Though her face gave off the extreme worry she felt since the night before---her son came home very late last night reeking with alcohol, and if it were not for Baekhyun there, Seju would have slapped his face on the floor when he lost consciousness---Shin Hyemi was still as pretty as she could get.

The lady wore a peach floral dress, and her hair was neatly arranged in a bun. Before she could even say it, Baekhyun already knew where she was going; it was today five years ago when his husband, Seju's father, Jung Minjoon died in a car accident down the highway.

Baekhyun tried to plaster the most sympathetic smile he could. "Seju is still asleep, Auntie. I promise I'll look after him. Please leave without a worry."

Hyemi walked towards Baekhyun, who was sitting in a wooden chair beside Seju's bed, through her sandals, a soft click-click-clack sound resonating the room in a good rhythm. Baekhyun almost flinched when the lady raised her hand---it was his protective reflect, maybe---but turned out she just placed a gentle hand on Baekhyun's head, fixing his messy hair and putting his fringe aside to let him see clearly. "Thank you, Baekhyun-ah."

Baekhyun couldn't look at Seju's mother in the eyes. He was trying to ignore the ache in his heart since last night, but the more he saw Seju's mother's face, especially that she was talking to him like this with that sweet, sweet voice, he couldn't help it. Her face was really Lee Young Mi's, Chanyeol's mother from a few hundred years ago. Baekhyun fought a tear. "Y-you're... you're welcome, Auntie."

Hyemi checked her son for a second before leaving the room, closing the door with a soft click before going down the stairs to leave.

Baekhyun let out his breath. He realized he had been holding it in since the woman talked to him.

It was extremely strange.

That night, after Chanyeol passed out from being too drunk, Baekhyun found out something. He heard Hyemi's immediate footsteps coming upstairs, as Seju and him had caused a loud bang on the floor when they both fell.

Baekhyun was panicky; he still wasn't over the fact that he suddenly had a physical body---he wasn't a lifeless ghost anymore, but then things started coming right at him one by one in a consistent manner. Now he needed to hide himself before the woman could see him.

Of course, Baekhyun was a no one. He was worried Seju's mother would freak out seeing a twenty-seven-year old male in a white shirt and khaki pants, barefooted and stunned, with her drunk son on the floor. Baekhyun was about to carry his own weight and hide somewhere when he heard the footsteps drawing closer. He was aiming at under the bed but Seju's unconscious body was forbidding him to move. Hyemi finally opened the door and saw them both.

The woman had her eyes wide, but when Baekhyun was about to speak, she knelt down to grab Seju by the arm. "Baekhyun-ah, help me carry Seju to the bed."

The woman called Baekhyun by his name.

After that, reality shifted.

Apparently, Hyemi knew him. Baekhyun turned out to be Jung Seju's best-est friend since highschool. Baekhyun didn't know how it happened, or how the world seemed to acknowledge his existence now. He was both confused and curious.

He wanted to know more, but since Baekhyun was now human, when he decided to know more about his identity, he fell asleep.

That morning he was able to know more about himself when he looked into Seju's room.

Several photos of him and Seju were displayed on the walls and on the study table. Their college graduation picture was there, which didn't exist for the past twenty seven years. Even Seju's mom knew him, and by the way she acted and talked Baekhyun figured that (if he really existed that way) they were pretty close.

Baekhyun figured out he was actually parentless, and though he wanted to move out after securing a stable work after finishing his degree and working for two years, Seju insisted he stayed in the house with him and his mother.

It was as odd as it could get. Baekhyun even found himself having his own bedroom beside Seju's, which wasn't there before and was only a mere storage room but was now occupied with a bed and Baekhyun's things he didn't know he owned. It was strange how Baekhyun felt when his own eyes touched his company ID; the same Seju had because apparently, they were workmates. Unlike Seju who was a script writer, Baekhyun turned out to be an editorial assistant.

It took time before Baekhyun could sink everything in his mind. It was as if he really did live a life with Seju in this lifetime. He didn't know what happened, but considering how his curse was real, Baekhyun could only feel less heavy with the way things were. He was lonely and desperate for seven hundred long years. And now, suddenly, he was a human again. With a flesh and blood, with an identity, with a family, with a life.

Baekhyun didn't know what the cost might be, but at the moment he was grateful to have a life again.

He was happy. Glorious, even. But as things dawned over him he realized that the reality was altered. And it had affected Seju's life.

Baekhyun turned to look at the unconscious male on the bed. He still had to deal with Seju when he wakes up. Because for some odd reason, Baekhyun has a feeling that Seju's mind wasn't affected by this force that made Hyemi believe that Baekhyun had been with them since the beginning.

And he was right. The moment Seju's eyes fluttered open, he was staring widely at Baekhyun in confusion and accusation.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my room?"

 

 

 

 

*

"I told you I can take care of it!"

Seju winced as pain rushed through his head. It was like something was drilling right to the back of his skull. A few more minutes of his delirious visions and he would definitely snap; he was one of the lead writers of their newest project and it was a fantasy genre, something about ghosts and death. Maybe he was so much into it that it was haunting him now. The project was making him see things. And Seju was so close to believing he was still drunk.

"No, I'll do it. You're still in a hangover. And I promised Auntie I'll look after you."

Because no, Seju wasn't really inside his room with this (beautiful) stranger, who he called himself as Byun Baekhyun. And no, the photos neatly hanged and displayed in his room did not magically change into photos of him and Baekhyun.

He must have hit his head hard when he collapsed last night.

Seju turned his head to look at the male in front of him. Looking at him, Baekhyun was small and innocent-faced. Seju could already judge that he was much taller than Baekhyun, judging from his shorter legs. He was wearing a plain white shirt, and his shoulders were narrow. Even his knee-length pants gave off how small and fragile he was. He was even pale.

Seju frowned. Though the said male seemed oddly familiar, he still couldn't remember they have met before.

That was where more odd things come. How come he and this stranger had pictures of them together, if Seju was well aware he haven't met Baekhyun all his life?

Seju saw Baekhyun carefully push a mug of coffee towards him, plastering a smile. "Here. I made this coffee, this'll help for your hangover."

Seju frowned. "There's a medicine which totally removes hangovers in a matter of seconds."

"Oh."

"How come you gave me coffee all of a sudden? People don't do that anymore. Are you some sort of a traditional person who believes old shit? How could mom entrust me to you?" Seju facepalmed, not really talking to Baekhyun but to himself. He was creeped out by this whole thing already, but all he could do was deal with it because everything is just because you are drunk, Seju. The delirious visions would probably go away later when you come to your senses.

"Oh please, tell me this is all a prank. I left too early at the club last night, this must have been Sehun's or Jongin's idea to scare the shit out of me."

Seju laid back down the bed, ignoring the mug of coffee. He was laughing to himself now, almost insane. Nothing made sense. He must be still sleeping now, and all of this was just a dream.

Baekhyun put down the mug before settling down on the chair beside the bed. It was that chair from the front of the study table nearby. Though Seju couldn't see him because the latter had his eyes closed as he laid on the bed, massaging his temples while muttering things only he could hear, Baekhyun offered a small smile. Honestly, he was trying his best not to break down. His first love was right in front of him, talking to him. But it wasn't like Seju was Chanyeol. He was a reincarnation of him.

"I... I know it's too overwhelming. A-and creepy, even. Impossible." Baekhyun balled his fists, sighing deep. "But, Seju... I swear I don't have anything to do with these. It just... it just happened."

Seju was busy thinking through things, absorbing how a stranger could magically appear into his life. It was like Baekhyun was there since his childhood, and if reality really did change, then---

Seju sat right up like a bolt. He had been nervous for quite a while now. He was starting to make conclusions.... That can not be. Things like that only happen on television dramas and movies. Seju opened his mouth to talk. He was beginning to get mad. If this was all a joke, he would definitely go berserk. "What just happened?"

"T-this. All this."

"What exactly?" He was staring right at Baekhyun's eyes.

Though Baekhyun looked back at him, he answered with a shaking voice. "The altered reality, Seju. I wasn't here before. You know that. But now everybody thinks I was, and everything proves I did exist in your life eversince." He looked at their surroundings. "Just look everywhere, Seju."

Standing up, the taller male glanced around his room, seeing how there really were pictures of him and Baekhyun, seeing their graduation photos, the stock room which was now Baekhyun's room, the family portrait downstairs with Baekhyun in it; everything. Seju saw everything, with his very own eyes in his most stable state.

He came running back up the stairs, running towards Baekhyun, who was left inside his room.

He didn't know Baekhyun at all, but then he just showed up one day with a situation like this.

Just how could he accept someone who came just like that, shifting his life like this without his permission?

For the first time in his life, Seju felt mad like that.

Because if it was real, Baekhyun erased and replaced the existence of Jinah in his life, the little girl who was his childhood friend and who stayed with him since highschool.

*


	5. Lifetime 4

\---

Unlike the nights before, tonight was warm. The sky was not as dark as before, and even the trees swayed gracefully with how the fresh wind blew all throughout. Baekhyun sat alone in the bed of his room, gazing at the quiet streets outside. It may not be the most perfect night, but for Baekhyun, he couldn’t ask for more. Because finally, he was alive.

 

“Baekhyun? Did anything happen?” Baekhyun looked down to hide his face from the worried lady, but Hyemi’s gentle hand was on his chin that he had no choice but to lift his face up when she sat on the bed across him. Seju’s mother sighed. “Did you and my son fight?”

 

“N-no,” Baekhyun winced at his answer. It wasn’t a lie. They didn’t really fight. But Baekhyun wasn’t really sure if he and Seju were okay. Or if Seju was okay with him.

 

Seju finally realized what had happened; the reality was altered and things in his life changed. It was a big thing to sink in to his mind, and Baekhyun would understand if Seju would act like that.

 

“Well, if you guys didn’t, why does your face say otherwise?”

 

Baekhyun’s shoulders fell. The woman in front of him was Shin Hyemi, Jung Seju’s mother. She was totally a different person. But Baekhyun was sure that besides the same face, Shin Hyemi has the same kind and caring heart that Lee Youngmi, Park Chanyeol’s mother, had. That warm smile and beautiful eyes that showed her pure emotions; it was the same thing Youngmi had offered Baekhyun during his lifetime. Baekhyun couldn’t help but be emotional. He wasn’t aware of it when tears started running down his cheeks.

 

Hyemi held his both cheeks with worry. “Baekhyun-ah, what happened?”

 

“I-it’s…” Baekhyun cursed himself for squeaking his voice, “It’s nothing, really, Auntie.”

 

“Do you want me to talk to Seju about it?”

 

“N-no. No, please, no.”

 

“If you insist, what can I do? But I hope you sort it out, okay? And I'm here whenever you're ready to talk about it. You and Seju had been together eversince. You won't stand fighting for long.”

 

Together eversince. Of course, it was true. Except for the fact that Seju didn't know him.

 

Baekhyun just nodded. "Okay…”

 

Hyemi left after that, leaving Baekhyun alone again in his room.

 

It was like an aftershock. Seju’s rage was the quake, and the happenings between him and Baekhyun after were the shocks after that. Baekhyun didn’t have the luxury of time to react—or explain, the taller male didn’t bother stopping and went on with his words. Sure, Seju wasn’t vocal enough to his feelings, but he did have a sharp tongue.

 

Baekhyun spent hundreds of years with no one to talk to and the first time he had someone all he heard were hurtful words. It wasn’t like he planned all this.

 

Altering the reality, it was more than what Baekhyun could do. He was a mere ghost, trapped in this world to stick with one person. Even the moon who he only talked to refused to talk back to him. And now that the things he wished for was granted one by one, the person who he loved the most is mad at him.

 

"I didn't do all that." he muttered, as if Seju was listening. "It's not like I wanted to alter your reality and replace your first love."

 

Baekhyun's hiccups were stopped when he heard footsteps coming at him.

 

"I know," said a voice. Baekhyun turned his head, seeing the tall figure of the same person whose physical appearance didn't change for seven long lifetimes.

 

Seju inhaled and exhaled slowly before continuing. "I know you didn't. And uhm, you didn't also actually.. replace Jinah in my reality. I'm.. I'm sorry."

 

\--

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Im Jinah.

 

Seju had the perfect childhood. He had great loving parents. He had the wealth and comfortable life. He had the best school, the achievements, even the luxury.

 

He also had the best friend. And the best first love.

 

It might be puppy love for others, but Seju believed it was real. Im Jinah was the perfect school kid by the neighborhood. Back then, Seju and his family lived in a luxurious subdivision, and Jinah's family was one of the richest family living there. Seju had a bunch of friends, but when he realized how all of them were leeching of him because of his family's wealth, he began having trust issues.

 

He was a twelve-year-old kid with a trust issue. But Im Jinah still made friends with him.

 

They had the same problem and they held on to each other because of that.

 

Apparently, Jinah's family had to move after her family's business went bankrupt. All Seju heard was it caused by a traitor whom Jinah's father treated as a friend. Their money was gone in a snap. And everything went downhill since then.

 

They had to move out. And it was the first time Seju wanted his family to run out of wealth, just because he wanted a good reason to follow his friend.

 

But that wish didn't come true until before he graduated highschool. Their family business went downhill because of another betrayal. Just like what happened to the Im's. Just like what Seju deeply wished.

 

And somehow, he blamed himself for that. And felt guilt over it. Because in the small portion of his heart, at the back of his mind, he still wanted it. So he could have the reason to follow Jinah.

 

"When we were still rich, I couldn't find a reason to follow her. Or the time to do so. I had so many responsibilities on my shoulder." Seju heaved a sigh, the weight on his chest finally lighting. "It may sound bad, but somehow I liked that we're normal people now. I.. didn't really like how everything was before. I didn't like the all the pressure. With how I should act, what I should accomplish. With who I spend my time with. It suffocated me." 

 

Baekhyun was sitting not far from Seju, hughing his knees while resting his back on the backrest, looking at the person he's talking to intently. Seju's eyes were shining as he told stories about his life. Seju went on, "And, at least, I know now that Jinah wasn't.. erased in my life."

"I didn't? I thought---"

 

"You didn't. I happen to ask mom earlier, if she knew her. Mom said she does. I think i just.. overreacted. And felt threatened that she.. that she's gone again."

 

"I'm sorry."

 

"No. It was my fault. I'm really sorry."

 

Seju looked at Baekhyun, and when he noticed the latter was gazing at him intently like that, his eyebrows met. Baekhyun seemed like he was looking rugh through his soul. "Why.. are you staring like that?"

 

"N-nothing. I just.. can't believe this."

 

"Can't believe what?"

 

Seju and Baekhyun were both settled on the sofa, looking beyond the glass of the window in the living room, staring at the moon. The night was cold and quiet as usual, but it was otherwise on Baekhyun's warming heart. It was ages since he talked to someone like this. Much more that who he was talking to was Seju. Chanyeol.

 

"Nothing. It just feels strange that I'm talking to someone right now."

 

"Why?"

 

Baekhyun smiled. The usual smile that he did that was small enough for everyone to recognize. "It's been a long time since I talked to someone. I'm a ghost, remember? Well, was."

 

"I do remember. How.. how long have you.. been, you know, dead?"

 

"Long enough."

 

"Do you know how many years?"

 

"Seven hundred. Or more than that, I don't exactly know."

 

"Oh."

 

Seju was quiet after that. Baekhyun looked at him, and it seemed like he was thinking deeply. He had this small frown on his face and his eyes were focused on the floor. He was even unconsciously playing with his fingers. Thinking, Baekhyun noted.

 

"You're twenty-five, aren't you?"

 

Seju looked up when Baekhyun talked. He was still sinking in to his mind that he was talking to a former.. ghost. Of course he did understand what that meant. But it didn't make sense logically. "Uh, yes. I am."

 

"I'm twenty-seven."

 

"I see."

 

"Seven hundred twenty-seven."

 

Baekhyun broke a laugh after cracking the joke. It sounded hilarious, being said out loud.

 

"Heard that? I could pass as a grandpa. That's so ridiculous!"

 

Baekhyun went on with his joke, laughing. He laughed and laughed, feeling pain and joy at the same time. Sad and grateful. Mournful and surprised.

 

He was finally alive. He didn't know what to do or had plans about anything. But he was breathing. His heart was beating and he wasn't pale.

 

He was with Chanyeol.

 

"You're beautiful when you do that."

 

Baekhyun's laughter stopped.

 

He saw Seju smiling to him. His toothy smile that even the lifetimes had failed to change. "You're beautiful when you smile, when you laugh. When you're happy.

 

I don't know what happened, Baekhyun, but as long as you're here with me, I want you to be happy. You deserve it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note:
> 
> Uh, hi. Guess I'm back??
> 
> \- Tita B.

**Author's Note:**

> This story is also available on Wattpad, just go to this link and maybe give me a vote : )  
> https://my.w.tt/GZtK32P5QV
> 
> wp: titabaekhyun0506


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